Valve impact operating method



April 7, 1970 I J. J. ZICCARDI 3,504,684

VALVE IMPACT OPERATING METHOD Filed April 5. 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

JOHN-I: Z/CCA IQD/ April 7, 1970 J. J. ZICCARDI 3,504,684

VALVE IMPACT OPERATING METHOD Filed April 5. 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F Iq O o 33 i 1 T 5 E? ii U 1i? 2| I INVENTOR.

JOHN J. ZICCARDI BY W Q/Q United States Patent Ofice 3,504,684 Patented Apr. 7, 1970 3,504,684 VALVE IMPACT OPERATING METHOD John J. Ziccardi, Evans City, Pa., assignor of fifty percent to William B. Jaspert, Pittsburgh, Pa. Filed Apr. 3, 1967, Ser. No. 627,802 Int. Cl. F16k 31/10, 31/04 US. Cl. 137-1 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An electric motor operated actuator for plug 'valves and the like, in which the valve is angularly movable through an arc and is actuated by an impact device that is operated by the electric motor to produce a stroke or strokes on the valve to move it to the stop position.

Conventional actuators for plug valves consist of an electric motor which drives a gear train, the output shaft of the gear train is coupled to the plug stem of the valve.

Because of the very nature of the mechanical advantage of the gear train, that is, speed being sacrificed for torque output, it is not possible to have an actuator which is very fast and very powerful. The actuator can be slow and very powerful or it can be fast and very weak.

Due to the unique feature of a hammerblow following immediately by a series of very rapid strokes or force produced by my actuator, it is possible to have a very fast actuator which is at the same time very powerful.

One reason for this action being the fact that once the valve element is started in motion, it requires far less force to keep it moving; that is why the hammerblow is of importance. A gear train may also be used with this invention to increase the torque output of the motors.

The invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the accompanying drawings constituting a part hereof in which like reference characters designate like parts and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation, partially in cross-section, of an actuator mounted on a conventional plug valve of the type that is operated by moving a hand lever through an arc of 90, more or less;

FIGURE 1-A is an isometric view of the motor of FIGURE 1 mounted on a supporting bracket;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view diagrammatically illustrating the movement of the actuator part in relation to the operating lever of the valve, taken along the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation, partially in cross-section, of a modified form of the invention for actuating large valves;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view diagrammatically i lustrating the relative position of the actuator of FIGURE 3 and the operating lever of the valve taken along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a wiring diagram of the power circuit of the actuator motor and controls.

With reference to FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings, the numeral 1 generally designates a reversible series wound, universal type electric motor mounted on a bracket consisting of the parts 3 and 3a that are supported on the housing of a plug valve 2, as shown. The shaft 4 of the motor 1 is in approximate alignment with the stem 5 of the plug valve 2. Fixed to the armature shaft 4 of the electric motor 1 is a lever arm 6 that may be made of spring steel, which arm is provided with a weight 7 which may be designated a hammer or impact element, and which is secured to the arm 6 as by screws or rivets 7a. Mounted on the stem 5 of the valve 2 is an operating lever 8, and the end bracket of the valve 2 is provided with a stop lug 10 against which stops 9 and 9a, integrally formed with lever 8, abut thus permitting angular movement of the lever 8 through an arc of more or less. Lever 8 of the valve and the impact weight 7 of the lever arm 6 operate in the same lateral plane and need not be in exact alignment.

In the modification shown in FIGURES 3 and 4 of the drawings, a conventional reversible series wound electric motor 21 is supported by a bracket 22 above the plug valve 2. The motor 21 may be resiliently mounted by disposing a relatively thick rubber sleeve 23 between the motor housing and the mounting bracket 22. The rubber mount firmly secures the motor but allows it to twist slightly and recoil during operation of the actuator 28.

Attached to the motor shaft 24 is a gear pinion 25 that engages gear wheel 26 that is fixed to shaft 27 that rotates in a suitable bearing in the motor housing, such as is common practice in small hand drills. Attached to shaft 27 is a lever 28 which may be shaped as shown in FIGURE 4, and is preferably of a heavy construction. The lever 28 moves in the same plane as the operating handle 8 of valve 2. The stop lugs 9, 9a and 10 are provided as in the operating mechanism of FIGURE 1, and the actuator operates in the same general manner as in FIGURES 1 through 2, with the exception that instead of using a flexible lever arm like the spring arm 6 of FIGURE 1, the modified actuator of FIGURES 3 and 4 has the motor itself mounted on a resilient holder.

As shown in FIGURE 5, the armatures 30 and field coil 31 of motors 1 and 21, FIGURES 1 and 3, are connected to a source of power such as generator 32 by means of the double throw switch 33 for reversing current to armature only to operate motor in either direction of rotation. A rheostat 34 adjusts the power and speed of the motor and a selenium controlled rectifier may be substituted for rheostat 34 if A.C. current is used.

The operation of the actuator is briefly as follows:

When the motor 1, FIGURE 1, is energized to rotate in the direction desired, the impact or stroke number 7 is accelerated until it strikes the operating lever 8 of the valve, thus imparting a great amount of energy to the movable stem 5 of the valve to open or close the valve, as the case may be. As the weight strikes or impacts the lever 8 of the valve, the armature of the motor decelerates due to the resistance of the movable element of the valve in its seat, thus causing an immediate reduction in the self-induction of the armature winding, which immediately causes a decrease in the counter-electromotive force in the armature winding, thus permitting a greater current of electricity to flow in the armature winding, thereby increasing the output torque of the armature shaft. The energy stored in the spring steel lever 6, as the result of the deflection due to the initial impact, opposes the rising torque of the armature shaft and again the armature shaft decelerates and the cycle of fluctuating current in the armature winding is repeated, resulting in a rapid succession of hammerblows to the operating lever 8 of the valve, as long as the switch is closed or until the stops of the operating handle contact the stop 10. It is obvious that limit switches and the like can be placed in the path of the operating lever to limit its movement or to indicate its position.

When the power of the motor is matched to the torque requirements of the valve by means of the current controlling rheostat or selenium controlled rectifier, the motion of the operating handle is a distinct series of very rapid, though discernible, steps, but if the power is increased to the motor so that the valve is operated a most instantly, the motion of the lever appears to be one smooth swing.

Where a gear train is employed, as in FIGURE 3, the motor 21 which is resiliently mounted by the thick rubber sleeve 23, reacts to the varying armature current in the 3 same manner as described in connection with the operation of the actuator of FIGURES 1 through 2, and the same results are obtained.

It is apparent from the above description of the invention that the actuator will deliver an initial hammerblow to dislodge the valve plug followed by a rapid series of strokes to keep the valve plug moving in a desired direction to the stop position. It is also apparent that the valve lever 8 may be manually operated in case of power failure. It is further apparent that conventional. fractional horsepower motors and common lever operated valves may be employed without altering the motor or valve parts, and that mechanism avoids the need for accurate alignment of the motor and valve parts which in other devices may become misaligned and thereby impose heavy loads on the parts, rendering the valve and actuator useless.

It is apparent that the actuators herein disclosed can also be used to operate valves for modulated flow.

Although several embodiments of the invention have been herein illustrated and described, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the details of construction without departing from the principles herein set forth; for example, electric motors other than the universal type may be used.

I claim:

1. The method of automatically opening and closing rotatable valves by a rotary actuating mechanism, the valve having an operating lever extending from the stem of the valve and the rotary actuating mechanism extending from the armature shaft of a reversible series wound universal type electric motor, with the lever of the valve and the actuating mechanism of the motor operating in the same plane, comprising the steps of selectively energizing the motor to rotate in the desired direction to cause the actuating mechanism to initially strike the valve operating lever and cause the motor to decelerate and thereby increase the output torque of the armature shaft to subject the valve operating lever to continuous movement to the valve full open and closed position.

2. The method of automatically opening and closing rotatable valves by means of a reversible series wound universal type motor as set forth in claim 1, in which the step of selectively energizing the motor to rotate in the desired direction is accomplished through the provision of a double throw switch and means for regulating the power and speed of the motor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,551,445 5/1951 Lindsay et al 25 176 X 2,624,363 1/1953 Boiler 25l76 X 2,687,870 8/1954 Matthews 25 176 X 2,992,807 7/1961 Karlby 25l76 3,377,045 4/1968 Welcker 25ll33 X 2,529,891 11/1950 Vogel et al 310-84 3,165,936 1/1965 Daugherty 31078 XR 3,277,669 11/1966 Woolley 3l0-84 XR 3,406,303 10/1968 Erickson 310-40 HENRY T. KLINKSIEK, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 25l76 

